Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34580282›Full record

Trial reportSpinal cord series and cases2021

Transcranial direct current stimulation combined with robotic training in incomplete spinal cord injury: a randomized, sham-controlled clinical trial.

Marcel Simis, Felipe Fregni, Linamara R Battistella

Abstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Spinal cord series and cases, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
10citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

10 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Trial
  5. Review
  6. Article
  7. Review
  8. Review
  9. Article
  10. Narrative review of current neuromodulation modalities for spinal cord injury.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2023
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Marcel SimisNeuromodulation Center, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. marcelsimis@gmail.com.ORCID 0000-0003-1656-9659
Felipe FregniInstitute of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Sao Paulo Medical School, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Linamara R BattistellaNeuromodulation Center, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

STUDY

designA randomized, sham-controlled clinical trial.

objectiveTo test the effects of tDCS, combined with robotic training, on gait disability in SCI. Our hypothesis was that participants who received active tDCS would experience greater walking gains, as indexed by the WISCI-II, than those who received sham tDCS.

settingUniversity of São Paulo, Brazil.

methodsThis randomized, double-blind study comprised 43 participants with incomplete SCI who underwent 30 sessions of active (n = 21) or sham (n = 22) tDCS (20 min, 2 mA) before every Lokomat session of 30 min (3 times a week over 12 weeks or 5 times a week over 6 weeks). The main outcome was the improvement in WISCI-II. Participants were assessed at baseline, after 15 and 30 sessions of Lokomat, and after three months of treatment.

resultsThere was a significant difference in the percentage of participants that improved in WISCI-II at the 30-session, compared with baseline: 33.3% in the sham group and 70.0% in the active group (p = 0.046; OR: 3.7; 95% CI: 1.0-13.5). At the follow-up, the improvement compared with baseline in the sham group was 35.0% vs. 68.4% for the active group (p = 0.046; OR: 3.7; 95% CI: 1.0-13.5). There was no significant difference at the 15-session.

conclusionThirty sessions of active tDCS is associated with a significant improvement in walking, compared to sham. Moreover, 15 sessions had no significant effect. The improvement in WISCI-II can be related to different aspects of motor learning, including motor recovery and compensation.

Indexed as

RoboticsRobotic Surgical ProceduresSpinal Cord InjuriesTranscranial Direct Current StimulationHumansWalking

Identifiers

PMID34580282
PMCPMC8476486

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.